Though generally taught and considered by speakers as a separate language, Lakota is mutually intelligible with the other two languages (such as Dakota language), and is considered by most linguists as one of the three major varieties of the Sioux language.

Dakota is closely related to and mutually intelligible with the Lakota language.

. Sinte Gleska University is said to have been using an orthography developed by Albert White Hat, but apart from one elementary level textbook, no literature, learning materials, or dictionaries have been developed with this orthography.

Albert White Hat (November 18, 1938June 13, 2013) was a teacher of the Lakota language, and an activist for Sičháŋǧu Lakȟóta traditional culture.

Though generally taught and considered by speakers as a separate language, Lakota is mutually intelligible with the other two languages (such as Dakota language), and is considered by most linguists as one of the three major varieties of the Sioux language.

Speakers of the Lakota language make up one of the largest Native American language speech communities in the United States, with approximately 2,000 speakers, who live mostly in the northern plains states of North Dakota and South Dakota.

As of the 2000 census, 1.90% of the population aged 5 or older speak German at home, while 1.51% speak Lakota or Dakota, and 1.43% Spanish.

A caron is used for sounds which are not written with Latin letters in the IPA: č, ǧ, ȟ, š, ž . Aspirates are written with h: čh, kh, ph, th, and velar frication with ȟ: kȟ, pȟ, tȟ. Ejectives are written with an apostrophe: č’, ȟ’, k’, p’, s’, š’, t’‌.

The basic word order of Lakota is subject–object–verb, although the order can be changed for expressive purposes (placing the object before the subject to bring the object into focus or placing the subject after the verb to emphasize its status as established information).

All monomorphemic words have one vowel which carries primary stress and has a higher tone than all other vowels in the word.

In some languages, such as in Spanish, in Portuguese, in Lakota and, to some extent in Italian, stress is even represented in writing using diacritical marks, for example in the Spanish words célebre and celebré. In Russian, diacritical marks are sometimes written for people learning the language, whether as a first or second language.

In many languages, such as Armenian, Korean, Lakota, Thai, Indo-Aryan languages, Dravidian languages, Icelandic, Ancient Greek, and the varieties of Chinese, tenuis and aspirated consonants are phonemic.

. Sinte Gleska University is said to have been using an orthography developed by Albert White Hat, but apart from one elementary level textbook, no literature, learning materials, or dictionaries have been developed with this orthography.

A Lakota language immersion daycare center is scheduled to open at Pine Ridge.

The Wounded Knee Massacre occurred on December 29, 1890, near Wounded Knee Creek (Lakota: Cankpe Opi Wakpala). On the day before, a detachment of the U.S. 7th Cavalry Regiment commanded by Major Samuel M. Whitside intercepted Spotted Elk's (Big Foot) band of Miniconjou Lakota and 38 Hunkpapa Lakota near Porcupine Butte and escorted them 5 mi westward to Wounded Knee Creek where they made camp.